Research and

planning film

poster and

magazine review

page

By Fahmi Zaman

• Silver lining poster portrays its message in a very successful way. This can be evident through the use of images of the character and how the overall texts are placed in a messy and spreading all over inside the horizontal box. In terms of the use of image, the image has been laid out quite effectively because it shows two characters in one space but with similar hobbies such as the use of football lexis written in the font of a grey handwritten style. Football is incredibly important to the main character therefore a playbook is "a compilation of strategies the team would like to use during games". This usage is reinforced by the playbook graphics on the film's promotional materials.

• The poster uses quotes from each character as explanations for their "plays", which could symbolize that it is equivalent to their outlook on life and strategies. The title could represent hope and comfort in a gloomy situation as that also signifies that it’s a romance story, maybe of them trying to work their similarities and differences in their life as a friend/couple. The use of black and white demonstrates the differences between these characters and how they view life.

• The close up shot and their smile could indicate their complexity towards their life as it’s in black and white giving the image a different interpretation of them as an individual. The lighting within the poster is bright which makes it easier to read the title. The yellow colour of the title is quite eye catching and appealing to read as yellow is something associated with something uplifting, offering happiness, inquisitiveness so therefore this colour matches with the poster because it implies the idea of enthuastic within each character and the yellow colour gives an impression of this film as an enriching story with 2 inquisitiveness characters with a different life story.

• What makes this poster more attractive is due to the use of written texts of the little notes and the use of directions gives an impression as if there’s something quite childish about this movie. The circle around the main title attracts the audience since the title stands out and contradicts with the facial expression of the characters. The layout is unique in this poster as we don’t see much of the character’s view but the smile gives an effect of an affectionate romance soft feeling to the poster.

The character’s name is written above which means it’s trying to highlight the characters before showing the title hence we see close up of the characters face then their names which makes a reader to find out more as Bradley Cooper is famously known for his acting in Hangover and so is Jennifer for her acting in hunger game. The combination of all the texts is quite disordered suggesting the unorganised life of these characters. The date of the film of releasing is highlighted in yellow which makes it simpler for audience to remember when to watch the film.

• This poster is one of the most different posters I have ever seen. This poster doesn’t follow the typical codes and conventions. The first idea I get by looking at the film is that it’s about someone with a lonely life. The image of Forrest looking away suggests some kind of mystery or miracle that he’s waiting for. The fact that Forrest is siting on a bench could illustrate the journey he’s waiting for and his bag supports this as metaphorically everything relating with his past could be inside the suitcase.

• The bench could portray a timeline of Forrest and where he is at the moment with his life hence the movie title is Forrest Gump as maybe the bench signifies his life story of where it started and ended with him sitting at the bench. His cream plain formal suits connote his gentility, naivety and simplicity of him towards his life. Along with that the bright white background depicts that there’s more than one story in his life but his shadow can illustrates his loneliness in life which is interesting because it suggests that either he’s.

• The main text is in blue which could connote that it’s the story of a man who doesn’t like to draw attention but at the same time someone who’s confident and loyal as the title itself describes someone who ‘s always eager to help and friend in need. Blue generally means someone with a spiritual and unique perspective with life and therefore we can argue that it’s a story of someone with extraordinary view on life.

• The font is simple and is separated from all the other texts except above we have the actor name. But the actor name is in different colour highlighting the actor giving more importance within the poster than the other texts. As the actor name is in red it could mean him being a famous actor and it’s worth watching the film since he’s portraying a different character within the film as the film only represents him ,leaving a question mark as what’s the story is really about.

• The poster starts with a caption of “the world will never be the same…”this quote makes it more exciting to read further down of the poster. Because in the poster we see him siting alone, the above quote matches with the title as it’s trying to depict a story of someone who’s siting alone at the bench but is looking at the left (looking at the brightest side of his life.)

• The layout of this poster is different as it has less texts and only one person taking all the space suggesting the story mainly revolves around him and his life journey due to the suitcase. The image is in long shot –indicating that there’s more to the life than looking at from one perspective but at the same time he’s looking away especially the bright background could connotes his joyfulness point of view of his life even though

he’s alone: could be implying how he maintains a positive attitude, manages all obstacles and despite how society sees him, he excels in everything he does , which is what makes his unique as the poster reinforces this with his name “Forest Gump”; as if his life is full more than what everyone does as maybe his past has a big lasting impact in his life. So the theme could be about destiny and death since he’s alone in the poster.

• This poster implies a contrast between having a lucky and unlucky day. It has the girl on one side in a sunny new York and the boy in a rainy stormy New York-this depicts how the girl has all the luck and the boy has no luck what so ever, it shows how split they are by having them shown in the same place but with different luck, they are supposedly sharing an umbrella where hers is all perfect and his is broken and ruined when he is the one who needs it.This film is a romantic comedy genre. From this poster the first idea we can get is that it’s a romantic genre as the use of prop umbrella shows the bond between these couples, binding them together even if one has a “bad luck magnet”. This is the main theatrical poster and we can see this as there is information about the characters, the production and the film opinion overall.Image of the key setting and the main characters: The title my luck surprisingly mixes well to the characters facial expression within the film poster because the expressions from both of the characters gives an hint to the audience that’s how their luck is as one side its bright sunny and the other side its total opposite. The characters name is written at the top of the poster to portray that this film is done by famous actors and actress which increases the popularity of the audience to read more about the film as it shows newly young lively love birds.

• On the left side we see New York top buildings and the sun shining upon depicts the idea of wealth and luck as it could be implying how the girl’s life in the story is much comfortable (probably of her having a better job with better career prospects than him) compare to the boy as it shows her wearing formal stylish new clothes (black ring could show how much she tries to control her luck as black connotes power). The fact that the umbrella isn’t broken in her side tells the audience how much good luck charm she carries for the boy as her charm can change his life forever. The umbrella also highlights that she’s someone who’s always positive about life, hoping for better things and never giving up since her smile highlights her positive attitude towards her life. This is something a girl can relates (female audience) especially from 20+ onwards as it reinforces that girls should never stop hoping for the good and having positive attitude towards their life even if they are having ups and downs in their life such as those who just had breakups from their relation. This poster could boost and cheer up those girls who had a bad luck as Lindsey trying to show the opposite that she’s the good charm rather than the boy.

• The bright blue sky and the sun correlates with her as a magic charm since the blue sky could connote her innocence and her passion towards her dream as she’s in New York city which is city where everyone comes to earn success as well as the sun connotes her strength and her positive vibe towards her life. But in a way we could also argue that the umbrella protects her from all bad luck even though the sun is shows to be her strength. As an audience the facial expression of her represents her attitude towards her life and how she’s ready to deal with all the issues in her life through optimistic approach. Her facial expression gives a warm feeling to the poster illustrating the theme of hope, love and comedy. This is because on the right side her expression contradicts with the boy’s life as he’s life is worse than her since she doesn’t need an umbrella he does mainly. Hence her smile gives a warm cheerful mood towards the poster as it shows that the boy needs her in his life as she can change his life forever and that’s where romance and hope blooms within the poster.

• On the right side the boy’s life is totally the opposite as he’s bad luck magnet. He’s confused and hopeless facial expression highlights that no matter how much he’s trying to move on with his life it always gets ruined since the they are supposedly sharing an umbrella where hers is all perfect and his is broken and ruined when he is the one who needs it. The fact that he’s getting wet and he can’t do anything tells us how hopeless he is without her as he needs her in his life .However although they are both in the same city, the rain depicts his unluckiness which he carries with himself and the idea that he will be always having trouble no matter how much he tries to block out and his broken umbrella supports this. The dark colour (blue and black) on his side shows his misery and rough life he has since he’s just wearing a casual dress but the sky blue contrasts with his characteristic because the sky blue also demonstrates his innocence and pure heart towards other since he’s holding the umbrella for her. The sun and the rain contradicts their personality at the end of the day as he’s more pessimistic with his life and she’s more positive with her life-thus they both see different things in a different way due to their luck. Black colours of the building could illustrate his unemployment and loss in his job as the lights are dark throughout all the building; hence his luck to a better career and life is uncertain since the thunder of the rain shows how much unlucky he is for anyone.

• The layout of the film is quite interesting and distinctive because it portrays the idea of romance between these 2 characters and how they will end up meeting as the umbrella shows their support for another. Having both their name above them shows their personality within the poster and the title matches to the overall poster message about luck since white connotes purity and kindness-they both want to have better life with a luck charm but its unfortunate that only one of them have it. The font is pretty simple and formal indicating their simplicity as a characteristic towards their life and the white colour of the font makes it look like a magic charm that the luck has for both of them, indicating that the boy needs the girl in his life (white adds to the idea of romance that both need in their life as both of them have different luck and they should pair up together).The subheadings “good luck charm and bad luck magnet” are in different colour this makes the poster look more effective since the black subheading predicts her strength in believing her luck with a positive look and the white challenges this as it shows even though some people aim to achieve successful life they will always end up having bad luck.

• All the other information about the film is written at the bottom which makes it easier to read and understand every key detail. The other texts are plain and easy to see. Overall the use of white colour has been effective on the film poster because it indicates the perfection one wants to bring in his life and the other already has it but it also highlights their means to move forwards and looking forwards in their life since both characters are meant to collide with each other. It matches with the idea of luck as well because your luck can have anything for you and so white has variety of meanings as a colour. The target audience for this film I would say is 15+ onwards as the idea of having luck and unlucky day can link to young people as young people suffer a period of hardships struggling with their identity through their teen years. It’s definitely for 20 and onwards readers as it can link to with couples having relationships and the idea of having struggling to have better career and life.

IDEAS for

my FILM

POSTER

• Overall 3 of the film poster are effective in selling to the audience for the film for instance the idea of blank space in Forrest Gump makes it more appealing to read and the close up facial expression of silver lining makes it more attractive

to look at it especially for someone who doesn’t know these 2 actors and actress. The idea I could subvert in my own film poster is the use of bench and the close up expression of the characters: within my film it’s about a girl having

bad luck and her ending up in the park finding the money in the bench. • Hence I would use black and white as the main colours of the poster and the

title colour would be red and green as in the film we show a cherry over the letter. I would use the idea of having close up facial expression and the bench:

my actress could be siting down at the bench but at the same time I would have her one side smiling and the other side with a shock expression. I like the idea of silver lining of having the title in the middle of the poster but I would like to have

at the bottom as well as my film genre is comedy drama I want to portray comedy as well along with drama, this could sketches of a bright sun or a

banana on her shoe to demonstrates the comedy aspects within the poster. But I want the cherry picture underneath the title to connote the drama genre as

well. • My partner idea of the poster is totally different from mine however from our

pitch, from the audience feedback we will then decide whose idea to put on for our poster. One of the similarities I have seen in all of these posters is the use of bright colours to signify the meaning and expressions of the character which

could subvert into my poster, Colours such as pink, white, orange. Plus they have the characters name above the title which I’m certainly using it although depending on the image size when placing the picture in the poster I will try to play around with the title and the name of the actress to see where it would be

suited.

• To start off with this film review magazine is different from all the other film review magazines. The title “old fashioned hero” is in large white font colour which is purposely designed to be bold and stand out against other texts. The fact that the font is Calibri and it’s in white colour directly attracts readers as the background image is from one the shooting images (we can see camera rolling down for example). Therefore due to the use of image on the background and the way the title has been placed within the page it makes the title successful in its purpose to attract the audience as the word “old fashioned hero” could make an audience think of the opposite of it due its white colour as it contrasts with old fashioned hero view. The tagline is underneath the title as usual . The tagline is simple and is in black font. Then the rest of text starts by introducing the new film “captain America”. The rest of the texts are on the page which I don’t have it but however I have decided to analysis this page due to its style of using the codes and conventions. For instance the use of circles for pull quote is quite interesting as it minimizes the information's in the page which makes it easier for an audience to keep their interest in reading further. And small headlines which gives extra information about the film with quotes from the film. The whole layout of the film has been laid out in an unique way because the background image covers the overall page and less amounts of texts engages the audience to read further and thus turn the next page.

• I infer that this magazine review page didn’t follow typical codes and conventions but there are some codes and conventions being used such as small pull quotes, taglines, main images etc. What I really liked about this magazine review page is the use of images so for example for my magazine review page I would use an image that would cover up the whole background at one side of the magazine (left side) and most of the synopsis, verdict, reviews will be on the right. And the use of circle shape has inspired to use a different types of shape for my pull quotes rather than just stating the pull quotes in a large texts.

These 2 magazine review I have analyzed it more as both this movies fall into the genre of comedy and drama and therefore this 2 have

inspired me most for my ideas for our film.

Layout –simply and clearer. There are brief overviews for the readers who don’t want to read it and the main body of text that has around 1000words in it for the more serious reader. It is all geared up to let you see what the film is like with minimal effort, there is brief plot at the start and verdict at the end, also if the reader wants an extremely brief overview there is a star rating in the bottom right hand corner. The look closer bit it very bold on the page and catches your eye.

All the language used is targeted for readers age of 16 and onwards . There is a little sub title that gives the reader an idea of the reviewer’s opinion on the film. In the brief section at the top where the plot it gives the release date, certificate, directors name, main cast members, screenwriter and the running time, this gives the reader a very good idea of what they are going to see already, whether it is suitable for the people they want to take to see it and whether it has any of their favourite faces in. The look closer box does what it says on the tin really, goes a bit deeper in the film’s/director’s/cast member’s history or future and tells you something an audience probably don’t know.

Fonts – the biggest font on the page is the title of the film, this is partly because people looking through the magazine to find a review find it by the title, also it makes sense to put the title of the film as the title of article. The subtitle is a bit smaller as you are only likely to read it if your are interested in finding out about the film, then all the other text is pretty much standard size. The font come in three different types of colour orange, dark red and black, this is eye catching -your eyes are drawn to the text that is in bold or a different colour. All the fonts are sans serif fonts not serif.

The whole image dominates the page. All the bullet points are little arrows, some are in different colours, some in circles and there is the INCINEMAS bit in the top right corner, all the graphics are all very formal and very stylish looking, all clean crisp edges, which is what you expect from a serious film magazine.

The reason I have chosen this magazine is because as our genre of the film is comedy/drama genre this film magazine review page is effective in terms of making it look more dramatic and effective in creating its genre understanding as this film genre is also drama. And the image is quite inspirable creating an effect of dark feeling which links directly to its genre ideas. From this magazine review page , I have decided I will use the typical codes and conventions such as the background information is with the main image and the taglines, summary, verdict and film detail. All these are closely correlated and this gives a quick impression of the film and hence by using the codes and conventions ideas from this film for instance might make my review page catchy and appealing since our target audience starts from 16 + onwards due to our moral at the end which applies to everyone.

• This is magazine review page is an example of a review page from Empire magazine. Empire is a popular and very well established magazine for film reviews and up to date information on the latest releases.I chose this to use as an example of inspiration for my own film review as the layout of the page is clear and looks realistic for a film magazine.

• . This magazine follows the typical codes and conventions as the key information, taglines , main title all are closely linked together and there are less spaces for the text unlike the Captain America magazine review page.

• Firstly the image is at the central of the page which is a medium shot of the image. The image is probably from one of the scene from the film as we can see the man hugging a person which could be someone he’s close with. In the image we have small background details about the film . This makes it exciting to read as it gives inside information about the film.

• The main title is in black font and is placed in white background which makes it stand out from all the other text in the background . This is because the text is in aerial and its in capital letter , all these makes the font title more simple and easier to attract readers since to keep the audience attention and not make them feel bored the title engages and lures the audience into understanding what the title is trying to say and the taglines supports this as the use of language makes it look more like something mysterious.

This magazine review has a predominately white background with a dull picture with blacks, white colours that burst out at the audience and attract their attention. However the positioning of the screen shot makes it easier to break up the information and also gives them a sense of what the movie is going to be about especially since jack sparrow has hit trouble this leaves the audience questioning the movie and leaving them wanting to know why he is again in trouble!

This review page is a double page spread. It is a combination of an image and a page of text, each taking up roughly an A4 page. There are a few smaller images that are used in the side bars of the review page. There are three columns of text. The columns are in a standard and simple grid format. The only interruption to the standard grid is the uses of a pull quotes and side bars.Thus the colour scheme of the review page is black, red and yellow. This has no relation to the picture of the various films used. This colour scheme is part of the house style.

The feature header is “Screen”. The header is the largest and seemingly the most important. It allows people to flick through the magazine and still see this page easily. It is in a large bold font that automatically catches the eyes of the readers. The header relates to the section of the magazine. This section is related to new films and would be considered a unique selling point of the magazine. Customers would buy the magazine because they would trust the reviews and opinions that this magazine usually has. There are two other smaller feature headers. The first one is “New Movies in Order of Merit” and the second is the title of the film. The title of the film is the more important of the two headers because it tells the reader what they reading about. It is used to let to reader know what film the article relates to and they then can therefore decide whether they want to read it. Both of these headers have their own kickers. These kickers are in a thinner font and therefore are seen as less important. They are there just to provide a little extra

information about this section of the magazine and the article.

• The body text is written in three main columns. The columns contain a mixture of both bold and normal text, this means that certain sections can be highlighted as more important and are more eye-catching. The columns are interrupted by pull quotes and graphical l furniture. The colour of most of the font is black. The other colours used do not have any specific meaning to the reader but they follow the colour scheme of the magazine. There is also a link to the magazine’s website on the bottom left of the page. This highlights the cross promotion of the magazine.

Main image is on the page is the screen shot from the film. The image seems to have had no effects added to it; this suggests that its purpose is to show what the film is like. This screen shot might have been used to show some of the main actors in the film. It shows how these very famous actors look in the film. The picture also provides an image to match what some of the articles was relating to. The images take up one of the A4 pages that make up this double page review spread. The size of this image could indicates that it is quite important to the spread. It also means that it is very relevant to the article. The photo has a light-hearted caption that makes fun of the situation shown in the screen shot. There are three smaller images on the left of the spread. These are small and are not directly related to the article. They provide extra information to the reader and therefore can be small and appear less important without taking away anything from the article.

The colours and fonts used are design in the house style and in the same colour scheme as the rest of this section of the magazine. The side bar to the right of the picture contains a special feature of the magazine. It gives the reader an idea of similar films which will help them make a more informed decision when it comes to deciding whether they would like to watch this film or not. The logo of the magazine doesn’t feature on this review page but the information bar at the top does however a logo that is associated with this section of the magazine. The logo is part of the style of the magazine and is regularly featured in the magazine. The page numbers are place on the bottom, outside corners of each page. There is also a logo used to indicate the web presence of the magazine.

Tone and register of the article suggest that it is written for people who are quite serious about film. The references to other well regarded films suggest that it is written for an audience that is likely to have a strong interest in film. It is written is quite a sophisticated but quite informal way. It presents well thought out opinions in a style that is more attractive that might broaden their target audience. This style means it might be targeted at a slightly older age group but might appeal to some younger people. This would likely be late twenties and beyond. It is for people have a good film knowledge which is not usually associated with young people. The review focuses on quite a combination of aspects. It doesn’t only deal with the actors or things that would be more popular in the main stream; it deals with more specific things like the writing and what crucial aspects of the film that they believe weren’t successful.

Ideas for my magazine: since this review page is from Total Film magazine,Well the title in this magazine film review page is quite fascination in the fact it directly catches my attention and even though the image is on the right side , I still want to read it due to the star /actor being used. What really interests me about this magazine page is the use of texts in left side usually we have images on either both side or right side but this time the title and the taglines were more important aspect of attraction than the main central image. Therefore for my magazine page I have to be careful in terms of using which and what type of image I need to use and make sure that my title must be catchy and attention grabber as I need to portray both comedy and drama genre. I really liked the layout of this page however i don’t want to use the graph idea it seems unnecessary to me even though it makes the page look more informative.